N.Y. Democrats push to keep restoration of SALT tax deductions in Biden spending plan

WASHINGTON — New York Democratic lawmakers Wednesday were scrambling to keep the restoration of a pricey tax deduction that benefits blue states in President Biden’s ambitious spending plan.

Powerful Senate and House Democrats are pushing back against efforts to ditch the return of the so-called SALT deduction, which is an acronym for state and local taxes, on federal taxes.

“Some relief in terms of SALT should be part of this legislation because what the GOP did in 2017 as a result of the GOP tax scam was ridiculous, outrageous,” Jeffries told reporters. “It was one of the largest abuses of the tax code in the history of the republic, to target states like New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Illinois and California.”

Some fellow Democrats are seeking to scrap the provision as they try to find savings to chop down the plan once valued at $3.5 trillion down to something less than $2 trillion.

Former President Trump and Republicans capped the deduction at $10,000 in their 2017 tax cuts, a move that hit high tax states like New York, California and New Jersey especially hard.

The cap hit Democratic-leaning states like New York and New Jersey especially hard because while incomes are higher, so are taxes. Many middle class residents in New York pay more than $10,000 in property taxes alone.